This is Shari Bach, founder of Kingston animal shelter Paws Unlimited. Shari loves dogs. She loves the environment. And she loves the ultra-efficient new electric geothermal heating and cooling system now installed at her animal shelter. “I am over the moon,” she says. “I’m very, very happy with the system.”
Central Hudson helped make Shari's project a reality by pitching in nearly $10,000 through its heat pump incentive program, which is open to homeowners and small commercial businesses. In addition, ground-source heat pump projects can also qualify for federal tax credits of 10 percent for businesses and 30 percent for homeowners, while New York State offers a residential-only tax credit of 25 percent up to $5,000. All of these tax credits are applied to the total system cost.
Ground-source heat pumps (like Shari’s) operate at up to 600 percent efficiency, and parts of these systems can last up to 50 years. That means decades of extremely cost-effective heating and cooling. In fact, the estimated annual savings for a typical home is about $1,500.
How can heat pumps be so efficient? Because it’s easier to move heat than create it.
When operating at peak efficiency in heating mode, for every unit of electrical energy applied to the system, six units of heat energy are delivered to the indoor air. The rest of the heat is absorbed from the ground. Since the ground temperature 10 feet below the surface never dips below 50 degrees or so, the process doesn’t take much energy even on the coldest winter days.
Because they use a relatively small amount of energy and have no on-site combustion, ground-source heat pumps are “the most energy-efficient, environmentally clean, and cost-effective systems for heating and cooling buildings,” according to the EPA. Dandelion, one of the leading regional ground-source installation companies, estimates that a home that switches from oil heat to geothermal would reduce its carbon emissions by about 80 percent; that’s the equivalent of taking 39 cars off the road!
If you’re a Central Hudson customer with a residential or commercial property, you could qualify for its incentives. Visit Central Hudson’s website to learn more.
